Welcome to the Death
Dogs Tourist Guideto Magnificent 7 Fan Fiction aka The Mag7
New Reader Starter Kit. This site contains a selective list
of Mag7 fan fic story titles & links drawn from dozens of Mag7
websites. The stories were selected for literary merit, faithfulness
to canon (particularly in old West stories) and canon characterization
and sometimes (we'll be honest here) because all seven of us liked
them a lot.

You might like the
stories recommended by this site if:

You believe punctuation
serves an actual purpose and should not be randomly distributed or hoarded
and melted down into multiple exclamation points!!!!!!!

You think if Chris
crawled into bed with Vin, he might refer to him fondly as a scrawny-assed,
scruffy tracker but would never call him sweetie, baby, darling or honey.

You realize that baited
breath would have a fishy odor.

You think Buck might compliment
Ezra
on the way his green Armani shirt complemented his eyes but you
know Ezra wouldn't loose his head over it because if his head got
loose, he might lose it.

You think The Magnificent
Seven is the story of seven, unrelated, adult men brought together
by Karma, fate, whatever to become a band of heroic brothers.
[You know that whole cool Seven Men, One Destiny thing.]

Someone once complained
to Theodore Sturgeon (top notch SF writer) that 90% of science fiction
was crap. Sturgeon responded, “90% of everything is crap.”
While we wouldn’t be so harsh as to say that 90% of Mag7 fan fiction is
crap, not all of it’s good and there sure is a lot of it. Of course,
readers differ on what constitutes a good story. Just consider us
a starter kit for our friends and their friends who have tastes similar
to ours - and we'll do our best to tell you what that taste is. We
don't pretend to be a "best of" site because our criteria will omit well
written stories that in our opinion alter canon characterization too much
or otherwise violate our concept of the mystique of the Seven. In
other words, we've tried to avoid stories in which one or more of the Seven
is villainized or super-sized. The series was not called The Magnificent
One and his Six Adoring, Incompetent, Pathetic or Rotten Hangers On.
On the other hand, while we may have failed to include well written stories,
we have tried not to include poorly written ones. [For a much
more literate rant on the "cost" of bad fanfic check HERE
(If that link doesn't work, try her home
page.) Although we don't know the author, she must be a kindred
spirit.]

Presenting a lengthy
list of well written stories is the purpose of our website. We won't
have any fancy graphics or many photos (just a few bought on ebay).
We aren't seeking to post any stories, but will simply provide links to
individual stories in public Mag7 library/archive sites. [However,
any author of a story listed/linked here is welcome to post it with us
if the site it's on is scheduled for demolition or if they'd prefer to
be archived on a page without password restrictions.] We're
hoping folks visiting the site will continue to direct us to additional
great stories that we've missed. The stories are simply listed
as we find them - our newest finds at the bottom of the category lists
or each author's title list. Only on the title list are the stories
are listed in alphabetical order.

This site had its
beginning after Hallmark began running the Magnificent 7 series
and many of our friends from other fandoms became addicted to the Seven.
Because the incredible amount of Mag7 fan fic on the internet made it a
daunting task for a new reader to find the best stories, we were constantly
being asked for links to recommended fan fic stories, just as we had begged
other fans before us to send us their choices. Finally, we started
compiling a list which we emailed to friends. They suggested we post
it on a server so we could add to it and they could consult it without
worrying about email. One of us had enough server space to put up
this little site and here we are.

Our Policy on Story Links:
There wouldn't be much point to this site if we didn't make it easy for
people to find the stories by providing links to them. That's
no problem when the stories don't have any explicit, sexual content and
are readily findable through Google or another search engine. When
someone posts a story on a public internet site, they're basically saying
they have no qualms about who reads it. We aren't posting the stories
themselves, just providing links. We haven't listed any titles or
authors from private writing sites, restricted list files, etc. If
an author has her own title index on a website with information about her
stories, the link might go there so the reader can see any information
the author wanted to impart before a reader clicked on the story title.
If an author requests that the link to an adult story be directed to a
different site or otherwise adjusted, we will be happy to do so.

Stories with Adult Content:
Stories with explicit adult content (het or slash) with be marked with
two
red asterisks** and will have
an age restriction pop-up. Slash with no explicit adult content ("slush")
will be marked with one*
mainly because they will be listed in the adult sections of some sites.

Password
protected sites: The only site we're linking to with passwords
for adult stories at this time is Black Raptor (We found alternate unrestricted
sites for stories found on other password restricted sites.) The
Black Raptor policy on linking to their adult stories is set out at: htp://blackraptor.net/m7fic/xm7ficx/linkpolicy.htm
We will, of course, honor their policy. The Black Raptor site owners
provide a real service to the fandom by archiving so many stories -
a lot of work and server space goes into it. They do not allow linking
to stories with explicit adult content, even with the author's permission.
Pursuant to their policy, "Slush" stories can be directly linked.
Black Raptor stories with explicit content will be linked to the BR password
request page provided as (BR).
If we find a BR adult story on another less restrictive site, we'll provide
the direct link to the alternate site. If any author of a story that
is password protected would like it also available with just an age pop-up
we'd be happy to archive it for them and make it available with a direct
link.

Our feeling about the value
of password protection: We respect a site owner's right to have
a password protected site, especially if authors posting there want that
protection. However, we have to admit, we don't see much value in
it in terms of protecting minors from accessing stories with adult content.
Passwords that are available on request are easy to obtain. The main
benefit is that the site owner will have a record of the request and age
statement should parents come calling. A more important reason
we find no value in password protection (and we hate to break this to all
those Mag7 readers and writers who are still feeling youthful) but
Mag7 just isn't a young people's fandom. Go to a search engine and
put in a fanfic search word with a show title like
Smallville, Roswell,
Dawson's Creek, Buffy, Angel, Charmed, Simpsons, South Park and you
will find thousands of NC-17 (and raunchier) stories to which youngsters
have direct access. And sad to say - in which they are much likelier
to be interested.

Our Story Criteria

In choosing the stories
to list here, we're looking for fan fic that appeals to readers like ourselves
and our friends. If the criteria below doesn’t describe the types
of stories you like, this site isn’t for you. Although we’ve tried
to list an extensive selection of excellent Magnificent 7 fan fiction,
we don’t take ourselves too seriously and you shouldn’t either. We
know there are writers who produce well crafted stories that don't meet
our criteria because of differences in taste rather than lack of writing
ability. A lot of authors like to experiment with characterization.
Just because they take it beyond what we're looking for, doesn't mean it
isn't good writing. . (See "Our
Rules & the Exceptions that Prove Them" & "Our
Mixed/Mixed-Up Feelings about Slash" & Characterization,
Canon & Fanon.) If all the stories we've read in our search
were graded from 1 to 10, the gen and het stories included here would range
from 8 to 10 (in our opinion). Because of our mixed feelings about
slash, only slash stories we rated at 9 to 10 are listed. The same
restriction applies to stories about the childhoods of any of the seven.
[How's that for confusion - higher standards for both slash and childhood
stories.] Novellas/Series are also held to the higher standard.
Reading them takes such a chunk out of a reader's life, it should be an
especially worthwhile experience.

Our most fundamental criteria
is that the story flows from a heroic, action background - Old West Peacekeepers,
ATF Agents, Private Detectives, Soldiers of Fortune, Police Officers, Space
Adventurers, etc. While the story list includes PWP's, comedies,
character studies, relationship stories, etc. they're generally set within
an action universe and are about heroic characters. The stories are
cross-indexed by main characters and story type.

No matter how well written,
we don't consider stories in non-heroic AU's or that deviate too greatly
from canon characterization to be Magnificent 7 fan fic. We feel
the same way about the "kiddie AU's" which reduce the Magnificent 7 to
six, five or four raising one or more of the others as children.
However, there are a few stories that several or all of us liked so well
on general writing merit that we added an auxiliary category that contains
a very limited number of kidfic titles.

Literary Merit

First, we look for
the obvious - fan fiction written by writers who understand (and employ)
the basic rules of English grammar and spelling. Beyond
that, there are the niceties of sentence/story structure everyone should
have learned in high school. Of course, fiction allows for some flexibility
in contrast to the rigid structure of formal composition but there are
“Elements of Style” common to all good writing. We take no issue
with British spelling and punctuation differences but we think British
writers should take care not to put British expressions in the mouths of
American men who wouldn't use them. [e.g. ATF Vin wouldn't stand
in a queue for take-away curry then eat it while watching the telly.]
Similarly, writers from either side of the Atlantic should be careful not
to have the old West versions of the Seven use clearly modern expressions.
[e.g. men in the old West had assholes, but the expression "rip him a new
one" is definitely modern.]

If anyone has a question as
to what constitutes literary merit in fan fiction, we urge you to read
Arduinna's
Chrestomathy:
Writing on Writing. In fact, even if you know what constitutes
literary merit, you'll enjoy this site. She has lots of useful links
too. (If the link goes bad, try her home
page.)

Disclaimer: We
started this site with what could be described as either idealism or a
high & mighty attitude. We didn't plan to list stories that hadn't
been carefully betaed or at least painstakingly proofread. We still
think authors should have enough pride in their work to have their stories
carefully betaed before posting. However, despite ourselves, we did
find some stories (especially challenge stories) that, despite too many
typos, had so much going for them we just had to list them. A few
of them even contained a some of our pet peeves - liked baited breath.
We've considered warning readers by marking those stories with a blue asterisk
- * - we're still considering it.
We have discovered there's a difference between careless typos and bad
writing -- or at least that typos are not the most "off-putting" characteristic
of bad writing. (Not to mention that we keep finding typos on our
own site.)

Offer: We'd be
happy to supply a proof reader to any author listed on this site, especially
for stories that are already posted. The author could then have it
reposted on her original site or she could let us archive it and link to
the corrected copy. We say proof reader rather than beta reader because
the stories we've chosen to list wouldn't be here unless they already showed
a good basic structure, including good characterization.

Faithfulness to Canon

We see Mag7 fan fiction
stories as extensions of the series. They explore ideas that didn’t
lend themselves to series TV, go beyond the series time line, provide a
more introspective look at the characters, have more explicit sexual content,
etc. -- within the constraints of canon. Of course, Mag7, more than
most series, lends itself to alternative universe stories.
Obviously only stories set in the old West can be literally faithful to
canon. However, many AU writers construct fanon that beautifully
translates old West canon into a different universe, using minor
canon characters, plot points, character interactions, etc. Of
greater importance to us is that AU fanon not directly violate canon in
a way that changes characterization. See our page Canon
v. Fanon. We'd love input for this page, especially if you don't
agree with us. And then, of course, we have our exceptions. [Our
Rules & the Exceptions that Prove Them]

Authenticity of Characterization

To us, characterization
is the most essential element of a Mag7 fan fiction story. There
are seven interesting characters to work with. If the characters
don’t resonate with those created by the synergy of the writers, directors
and actors, it’s really just fiction -- perhaps a good story -- but,
for us, not Mag7 fan fiction. Characterization is especially
crucial in an alternative universe story because the characters and the
bonds among them might be the only connection to the series. For
us, the draw of the Seven is the examination of seven disparate men
with no blood or legal ties coming together and creating what amounts to
a family tied together through loyalty, courage, sacrifice, love etc.
Because of the importance of characterization, we have generally not chosen
stories which change the ages of the characters in relation to each other,
or which impose legal or blood relationships onto any subset of the Seven.
Nor have we chosen stories that alter the basic mystique of the Seven by
turning any one of them into a despicable person who clearly doesn't belong
in a band of brothers or a superhero who barely needs the other six.
As Chris says about JD in Achilles, "If he was perfect, he wouldn't
be one of us." Mag7 is about Seven imperfect men who are better
men for standing united. (See "Our
Rules & the Exceptions that Prove Them".)

As in the series itself, characterization
tends to change somewhat in comedy storylines so our criteria for characterization
in humorous stories is somewhat different than it is for more serious fare.
Stories in the Just Plain Funny (JPF) and Just Plain Sexy (JPS) categories
are PWP's for which characterization requirements are even looser.
Similarly some stories are Sublimely Surreal (SS) - strange but so good
we've included them here even if the characterization has taken a spin
off center.

The Intangibles

Writing style, plot,
atmosphere, dialogue - these subjective elements enter into our story
selections. There are stories for which a brilliant writing
style and/or clever dialogue compensated for an otherwise standard plot.
We’ve also included stories in which an exciting or fast-moving plot or
a really novel, interesting idea made up for a writing style that was good
rather than excellent or for a story which could have used a tighter hand
with the proofreading. Often it's hard to draw the line - how many
typos are too many? Generally it's a matter of whether the errors
take the reader out of the story. We've found some stories that just
beg for a beta reader, yet the story is so well plotted or characterized
that the mistakes don't slow us down. There were other stories for
which every mistake brought us to a screeching halt - which told us the
story wasn't that compelling.

NOTICE:
If any author listed here is faced with losing the website where her stories
are archived, we would be happy to provide her with space on our server,
either temporarily while she looks for a new home or permanently.
Contact us at outrider@deathdogs.net.

2004 DEATH DOGS AWARDS
FOR CANON STORYTELLING
Have Been Posted Congratulations to the
Award WinnersClick here for links toAWARD
PAGESThank you to our judges and
to the many fans who sent nominations.

* * *

DEATH DOGS FAN FICTION
SITE MAP

Stories are cross-indexed. One story
may appear in several categories. Stories with two to four main characters
will be listed under the names of each. Stories with five or more
will be listed under the All Seven category. [We don't claim to be good
at math.] Stories with explicit sexual content are marked with double
asterisks**. Stories with no
explicit sexual content but which are likely to be in the adult section
of sites like Black Raptor due to reference to slash relationships are
marked with a single asterisk*
If an author has her own website or an index of stories on a website [and
we know about it] we'll provide a link to it. Just click on her name.